What happens if you stop Ozempic or Wegovy?

Wegovy's label includes a trial that stopped the drug on purpose; Ozempic's does not, which is a difference in what is known rather than in what happens. On Wegovy's label, the people randomly assigned to stop gained 6.9% of body weight over the following 11 months while those who carried on lost 7.9% more. That figure belongs to Wegovy's trial, so this page does not apply it to Ozempic.

Is Ozempic or Wegovy better for weight loss?

Ozempic reports 6.4% average weight loss and Wegovy 14.9%, each from its own trial. The two were not compared against each other, so the higher figure is not a result of a head-to-head and this page does not present it as one. What is comparable is what each costs, below.

Which is cheaper, Ozempic or Wegovy?

Neither. Both are $349 a month all-in once titrated, each with its source and the date it was read shown above. A tie on price is the answer here, not a gap in it. Above the maintenance dose, the optional higher doses cost more: Ozempic at 2 mg is $499 and Wegovy at 7.2 mg, Wegovy HD is $399 a month.

Can you switch between Ozempic and Wegovy?

They are the same molecule — semaglutide — so switching is a prescribing decision rather than a change of drug. The labels' top doses differ: 2 mg for Ozempic and 7.2 mg for Wegovy.

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Ozempic (semaglutide, diabetes label) vs Wegovy (semaglutide injection)

Verdict

Neither comes out ahead on the axes compared here. Wegovy scores higher on the published halfrx formula, 6.9 against 5.1; the formula takes in more than this table does.

Computed from the stored fields, so it moves when a price does. Nothing here is written by hand or by a model.

Which is cheaper, Ozempic (semaglutide, diabetes label) or Wegovy (semaglutide injection)?

Ozempic (semaglutide, diabetes label) is $199–$499 a month all-in, read from its own page on 2026-09-22; Wegovy (semaglutide injection) is $199–$399, read from its own page on 2026-09-22. At the maintenance dose both cost the same $349 a month, so price does not decide between them. Trial weight loss was 6.4% against 14.9%, from separate trials with different populations, so the gap is not a measured difference between the two. Every axis below is computed from stored fields rather than written by hand, so the comparison moves when a price does. Both were last checked on 2026-09-22. Neither carries an FTC action, a state action, a BBB F grade or an FDA warning letter. The published formula scores them 5.1 and 6.9 out of 10, arithmetic over the same stored fields rather than an editor's preference.

Head to head

Ozempic (semaglutide, diabetes label) against Wegovy (semaglutide injection), one row per axis, with the side that wins each axis marked.
What decides it	Ozempic $199–$499/mo	Wegovy $199–$399/mo
Entry priceBoth start at $199/mo.	tied	tied
Regulatory and complaint riskNeither carries a lawsuit, an FDA warning letter or a supply-risk flag.	tied	tied
Average weight loss in trialsOzempic (semaglutide, diabetes label) reports 6.4% and Wegovy (semaglutide injection) 14.9%, each from its own trial. They were not compared against each other, and the populations, durations and endpoints differ, so the higher number is not a better result — it is a different study.	not comparable	not comparable

What the trials, the titration and a year actually say

Axis	Ozempic	Wegovy
Mean weight loss in the cited trial	6.4%	14.9%
The trial that figure comes from	No percentage of body weight appears anywhere on the Ozempic label, which has no weight-management section: its three trial sections cover glycemic control, cardiovascular outcomes and kidney outcomes, and all report weight in kilograms. This figure is worked out from the label's own kilograms — 6.4 kg lost from a 100.1 kg mean baseline at week 40 on 2 mg — and is an arithmetic step the label does not take.	STEP 1, Study 2 on the label (NCT03548935), 68 weeks: 14.9% mean weight loss at 2.4 mg against 2.4% on placebo, intention-to-treat.
Maintenance dose	0.5 mg to 2 mg once weekly	2.4 mg once weekly, or 1.7 mg
Earliest week you reach it	week 5	week 17
Year one at the published price of every step	$4,237	$4,237

Trial percentages are quoted from the label or the named trial beside them. They are not a head-to-head result: different populations, different durations, different endpoints. That is why the comparison above scores this axis as not comparable rather than awarding it to the higher number. The year-one figures walk each titration step at its published price and count the thirteen fills a 28-day month bills. The full arithmetic is published.

Go to Ozempic ↗Go to Wegovy ↗

These two are comparable, at the same price

Both are branded semaglutide injections, at the same $349 a month once titrated, so price does not separate them.
Against every medication on this site with a verified maintenance price, Ozempic (semaglutide, diabetes label) and Wegovy (semaglutide injection) are joint 5th cheapest of 9 — the cheapest of them all is $75.

Novo Nordisk

Ozempic (semaglutide, diabetes label)

5.1

$199–$499/mo all-in

verified 2026-09-22

Off-label for weightBoxed warning

Novo Nordisk

Wegovy (semaglutide injection)

6.9

$199–$399/mo all-in

verified 2026-09-22

Boxed warning

Ozempic (semaglutide, diabetes label)

Pros

+New self-pay patients pay $199 for the first two monthly fills on TrumpRx, through 31 December 2026, then $349 a month at 0.25 to 1 mg.[2]
+Identical active molecule to Wegovy.[2]
+If you have type 2 diabetes, this is the on-label product and the one insurance is most likely to cover.[2]

Cons

−Using it for weight loss without diabetes is off-label. Insurers deny it on that basis and prescribers vary in willingness.[2]
−Its top dose is 2 mg, against 2.4 mg for standard Wegovy and 7.2 mg for Wegovy HD; the Ozempic label reports no weight-loss percentage to set beside Wegovy's.[5]
−Prescribing it off-label for weight competes with diabetes patients for supply — a recurring shortage driver.[2]

Sources

Wegovy (semaglutide injection)

Pros

+One flat $349 across every standard dose from 0.25 to 2.4 mg — no dose-escalation penalty and no refill deadline attached, unlike Lilly's conditional pricing on Zepbound.[1]
+New patients pay $199 for the first two fills through 31 December 2026 — the first two of the four titration months.[2]
+Approved for cardiovascular risk reduction, not only weight — the strongest insurance-coverage argument in the category.[1]
+The longest real-world safety record of any modern weight-loss GLP-1.[1]
+Commercially insured, the savings card can bring it to $25 a month, capped at $100 of savings per month.[2]

Cons

−$1,349 monthly list price without insurance or the self-pay program.[1]
−Weaker than tirzepatide where the two were tested head to head: in SURMOUNT-5, weight fell 13.7% on semaglutide against 20.2% on tirzepatide over 72 weeks.[6]
−A month is one box of four weekly pens, so a year takes 13 boxes, not 12: $4,537 at $349 rather than the $4,188 that 'per month' implies.[1]
−The new high dose, Wegovy HD 7.2 mg, sits outside the flat price at $399.[1]
−Weekly injection, refrigerated storage, GI side effects during titration, and weight regain after stopping is the documented norm.[3]

Sources

Ozempic side effects →Wegovy side effects →Ozempic dosage →Wegovy dosage →

Comparisons are computed from the fields on each card, not written by hand or by a model, so they change when the data does. Information only, not medical advice. halfrx may earn a commission from some links, which never changes what a comparison says.

Everything on Ozempic

Everything on Wegovy

Ozempic against Wegovy, answered

What happens if you stop Ozempic or Wegovy?: Wegovy's label includes a trial that stopped the drug on purpose; Ozempic's does not, which is a difference in what is known rather than in what happens. On Wegovy's label, the people randomly assigned to stop gained 6.9% of body weight over the following 11 months while those who carried on lost 7.9% more. That figure belongs to Wegovy's trial, so this page does not apply it to Ozempic.
Is Ozempic or Wegovy better for weight loss?: Ozempic reports 6.4% average weight loss and Wegovy 14.9%, each from its own trial. The two were not compared against each other, so the higher figure is not a result of a head-to-head and this page does not present it as one. What is comparable is what each costs, below.
Which is cheaper, Ozempic or Wegovy?: Neither. Both are $349 a month all-in once titrated, each with its source and the date it was read shown above. A tie on price is the answer here, not a gap in it. Above the maintenance dose, the optional higher doses cost more: Ozempic at 2 mg is $499 and Wegovy at 7.2 mg, Wegovy HD is $399 a month.
Can you switch between Ozempic and Wegovy?: They are the same molecule — semaglutide — so switching is a prescribing decision rather than a change of drug. The labels' top doses differ: 2 mg for Ozempic and 7.2 mg for Wegovy.